Chris Burden guaranteed his place in art history in 1971 with a period of often dangerous and at times stomach-churning performances. After having himself shot, locked up in a locker for five days, electrocuted, and crucified on the back of a VW bug, Burden reinvented himself as the creator of truly mesmerizing installations and sculptures.

In BURDEN, Timothy Marrinan and Richard Dewey look at Chris Burden’s works and private life with an innovative mix of still-potent videos of his 70s performances, personal videos and audio recordings, friends, fellows students and colleagues, critics’ comments and latter day footage at his Topanga Canyon studio, all peppered with his thoughts and musings through the years.

Critic Quotes:

“Burden does a sterling job.” – The New Republic

“An epic, often funny testament to creative fearlessness.” – Time Out

“A consistently fascinating documentary.” – RogertEbert.com

“What makes this work as cinema is that Burden’s creations have such visual power. The artist may be gone but, on the screen, he lives forever.” – The List